1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to containers made of transparent material for storing both a compact disc and its accompanying printed material. The invention relates more specifically to an improved container for storing a compact disc and printed material, that provides a releasable magnetic or electrostatic means for maintaining the container in a closed configuration.
2. Description of Related Art
With the proliferation of the digital compact disc, there has developed a need for a package design that will protect the disc from scratches, abrasion, dust particles, and the like. The most commonly used package at the present time is a hard plastic container often referred to as a xe2x80x9cjewel boxxe2x80x9d. More recently, as a result of the need to find a more economical and compact container, several new compact disc storage devices have been introduced.
One alternative to the xe2x80x9cjewel boxxe2x80x9d is a book-like cover with pockets to hold both the printed material and the compact disc. An example of such a design is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,207,717 issued to Manning on Jun. 15, 1993. There are several drawbacks to such designs. First, inserting and removing the compact disc from the pocket can be quite difficult and often abrasive to the disc surface. In addition, there is no specific mechanism for keeping the cover closed once the compact disc has been inserted and the container has been folded into a collapsed position. And thirdly, in order for one to read the table of contents, typically on the backside of the pamphlet insert, the cover must be opened.
A second attempt to produce a more economical and compact container is a package constructed of paper with a central post to hold the compact disc and further with an adhesive on the top of the post to hold the package closed when the compact disc has been inserted. An example of such a design is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,332,089 issued to Tillett et al. on Jul. 26, 1994. There are three main disadvantages with this package design. First, the adhesive used to hold the package closed has a limited life, with dust and other particles rendering it useless within a short period of time. Second, the package has no pockets for separate printed materials as most often accompany a compact disc. And third, because the cover is not completely sealed when in a closed condition, dust and other particles can still settle on the surface of the compact disc.
The present invention relates to a flexible book-like cover preferably made of transparent material for storing both a compact disc and its accompanying printed material. A transparent pliable plastic is preferably utilized for the basic components of the cover. Other pliable or semi-rigid, planar materials such as paper, paperboard, or cardboard, may also be used. The cover includes two or more pockets that allow for insertion of printed material in a manner that permits an individual to read every page of the material without removing it from the cover. In addition, because the cover has two pockets (at a minimum) for the printed material, the table of contents of the compact disc (which is typically printed on the back of the last page of the material) can be read without opening up the cover.
The cover is constructed from a single rectangular strip of transparent material which is folded back on itself at each end, sealed on at least the three outer edges of the cover, and then folded in half to form the book-like cover. The size of the material to make the pockets is preferably smaller in width than the outside face of the cover to form the pocket, but could be of any size or shape. The inside layer of each pocket includes a slit parallel to the spine and approximately xe2x85x9xe2x80x3 to xc2xcxe2x80x3 from the outer edges to slip printed material through, and thus eliminate the need to remove the printed material in order to read all pages of a pamphlet. This is especially useful when the printed material is a rectangular piece of paper folded into thirds with two separate fold lines as is sometimes used in the recording industry. This is also appropriate when there are multiple pages in the pamphlet whereby the front and back pages are each inserted into the pockets of the cover to secure the pamphlet in place. The remaining pages can be temporarily secured by slipping them under the slit and are easily freed to flip through for reading or viewing.
In order to reduce the amount of plastic utilized, instead of full pockets, strips of transparent plastic (rather than a full sheet) can be attached to the front and back inside of the covers. These strips may be placed directly adjacent and parallel to the spine, positioned directly in the center of each panel, directly opposite but parallel to the spine, or diagonally across each panel. In addition, a curved pocket in the shape of the CD, but slightly larger, can be utilized.
A retention post is attached to the inside panel of either the front or back cover, or both, and preferably includes a layer of pliable material to hold the compact disc (or discs) in place, requiring limited force to snap the compact disc into place and also to remove it. One such retention post structure is an oblong strip having the same thickness as the compact disc. Other more conventional retention posts can be used, such as a round core or pliable plastic tabs as are commonly used in the xe2x80x9cjewel boxxe2x80x9d design.
In the preferred embodiment, the spindle-like post is made of a sponge-like, pliable but resilient material, preferably transparent, and is used to hold the compact disc in place. The post is slightly larger in diameter than the hole of the compact disc and can be of a variety of shapes, i.e. round, oblong, rectangular, etc. The thickness of the post is preferred to be the same as the thickness of the compact disc so as to avoid any creases or indentions. In addition, a paper-thin piece of plastic (in one embodiment) is attached to the post, the plastic xe2x80x9ccapxe2x80x9d being slightly larger in diameter than the post, thereby holding the compact disc in place, but flexible enough to allow for easy removal with minimum force.
To eliminate the creases often created by the shape of the disc, a single sheet of transparent, non-pliable material can be inserted in each of the pockets. A second alternative embodiment involves doubling the thickness of the inside of the back and front panels by extending the length of the rectangular plastic sheet material and creating an additional fold prior to sealing. A third method of preventing cover creasing involves constructing a cradle (molded to shape of the compact disc) within which to set the compact disc. When the cover is in a collapsed position, the cradle provides a flat surface, thereby eliminating any depressions that might cause creases or indentions. With such an embodiment, the cradle could also double as a locking device to secure the CD into place.
Flexible magnets are used to seal the cover closed in a collapsed position. Alternatively, the cover may be held closed using a combination of flexible magnets and flexible metallic strips. The strips, when placed together to form the seal, are the same thickness as the compact disc, thereby creating a flat surface.
Other closures include the following which are applied to the inside of the front cover so that the front cover adheres to the back cover when in a closed position:
magnetic strips/strips of material containing metallic particles;
electrostatic surfaces;
light adhesives;
velcro;
snaps;
plastic sealing strips (plastic food storage bags);
additional flap that folds over the closed cover.
To make opening the cover easier, the top portion of the cover may be fractionally larger in width than the bottom portion of the cover so as to allow the cover to be easily gripped. In a second embodiment, a small section of a corner, such as a triangle, is cut out of the top right hand corner of the backside of the cover. In a third embodiment, a half moon shape is cut out of the backside panel about the side of a human finger.